Vending-machine indicator



, A. D. GROVER.

VENDING MACHINE INDICATOR.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 2, 1918.

1,407,0 3, Patented Feb. 21, 1922-.

INVENTEIR- Y (011161? (Zions-n Antenna 1). GRovEn, or

NEW.YOB,K, N."Y., Assrenon TO norosanns CORPORATION, A. conronnrron or new YORK.

" *VENDING-MAUHINE INDICATOR.

To allwhomitmay concem: 4

Be it knownthatLALBnRT D. Gnovnn, a citizen of the United States, and resident of New York city, in the county of New York and -State of New .York,have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in. Vending-Machine Indicators, of which the following isv a specification- My invention, relates to vending machines intended to be operated bythe insertion of cable a coin, and its object is to provide means for indicating the condition of the machine as regards the supply of goods inthe magazine. The indicator 'of myinvention' is such that it maybe felt from the outside of the machine, so that the person in chargeof the machine can ,readily determine, by a. mere touch, whether it needs. replenishing.

are attached.

My invention is particularly applicable to vending machines of the :kind that are operated in theatres or like places. In these so-called theatremachines itisnecessary to attend to many machines in a] very short time. It ,is', therefore, essential that'the.

collector should be able to determine very uickly. whether a machine needs attention. bviously, this could not bedone if every machine had: to be opened. Nor is it practical to have a: sight indicator, such as a strip of glass coveringtheopen-ing through which the goodsmay be seen. ;Such an indicator; is objectionable and impractical for two reasons: In the first place, theatres are dark when collections are made from the vending machines; secondly, the glass of the sightopening would soonbe broken and the goods tampered with.

Therefore, I haveprovideda device which the attendant or collector in charge of the machines can feel when passing quickly between the rows of chairs where the machines The device which constitutesimy present invention isa specific improvementupon the.

vending machine indicator'which forms the subject-matter of an application filed jointly by Edwin B. Potts and myself 'onNove'mber 3,1917, Serial No. 200,177." I do not, therefore,',herein claim' broadly an indica'tor" which 'is adapted to be felt from the outside of the machine to determine the condi tion of the supply of goods in the magazine,

Application filed February 2, 1918. Serial no. 215,023.

tion, on line 2-2 of Fig.

-August Specification ofLettersPatent. P t e 15 521 22 asthat is claimed in the aforesaid joint aplication. In the accompanying drawings Fig. 1 1s a front view in elevation of a vending machine equipped with my inven- I tion; and

Fig. 2 is a side elevation, partly in sec-' 1, the indicator being shown in normal position.

-The indicator 'of my=invention is applithe machine. The delivery cylinder 1 is adapted tobe operated in any suitable manner, as by means of ahand-knob fat the front of the machine,'when a proper coin The .oper-' at veconnections between the knob 4 and the delivery cylinder 1 are not shown in this case, as they form no part-of'my present isinserted into the coin-slot 5.

invention, but reference may be-hadtothe application's referred to. If desired, the'delivery cylinder 1 may be operatedby a knob at the sidc'of the casing and attached di- Number 187,206, filed rectly to the cylinder. gF'orthe sake of brevity and convenience, the cylinder 1 will hereinafter be referred to as the delivery .'mechanism, by which I mean any suitable form of mechanism fcrthat purpose. The goods or package'stobe sold are contained in a magazine M of, suitable construction. This magazine-is secured within the casing by any suitablemean's. In the present instance, the front wall of the magazine is spaced slightly from the front wall ofthe.casing ,.thusprovidin a narrow space or chamber S. The packages in the magazine M are indicated at P. The lowermost V 7 5 t In the drawing I have shown a delivery device 1nv the form of acylinder 1 pivoted at 2 and 8 1n the sides of the casing C ofpackage rests on top of the delivery cyl inder. VJ hen this cylinder is operated, the bottom package is discharged into the chamher 6 at the bottom of the casing, whence it may be removed through side openings 7.

The indicator of my present invention is preferably mounted in the chamber S and comprises a pawl 8 pivoted. at 9 between a pair of spaced lugs 10 secured to the front.

wallof the magazine. At its lower end the pawl 8 is provided with an inner extension 13 and an outer extension 12. The inner extention projects through a slot 11 into the magazine M into engagement with the goods or packages l The outer extension 12 projects outside of the casing through a slot or opening 14 formed in the front plate of the casing. Suitable spring means such as leaf spring 15 may be employed to urge the pawl inwardly when free to be moved. The spring 15is secured 16 to the front wall or" the magazine, while the other end-17 engages the pawl 8. Any other suitable spring means may be associated with the pawl 8, or the spring means may 3e altogether omitted if desired.

As long as there is a predetermined number of packages in the machine (say, three for example, as shown in Fig, 2), the outer extension 12 of the pawl 8 projects out of the casing and is firmly held in that position by the package or goods which the inner extension 11 engages. When, therefore, the collector passes his finger along the machine and encounters the projection 12, he is at once informed that the machine does not need replenishing.

However, shouldthe supply of goods be exhausted to a predetermined point (as for instance, when there are two or less packages in the machine) the spring 15 will force the pawl 8 inwardly and the outer.

head 12 will not project out of the casing. When, therefore, the collector'does not feel the projection 12, as he passes his hand over the front of the machine, he is at once informed that the machine needs attention.

The spring-l5 may be entirely omitted, in which event the head 12 would still project out of the casing when the supply of goods is exhausted below the predetermined limit, but the head 12 would then be free to be pushed inwardly under the pressure of the collectors fingers. This yielding of the head 12 would inform the collector that the machine requires attention. 7

It will be observed that the inner extension-11 of the pawl 8 is so shaped as to set lector, therefore, fills the machine, he need.

pay no attention to the indicator, as that will set itself into the right position by the mere insertion of the goods.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of theUnited States, is

1. In a vending machine, an outer casing provided with a magazine for containing the vendable goods, mechanism for delivering the goods from said magazine, and a pawl pivoted at one end within said cas ing, the other end of said pawl being provided with-an inner head or extension and an outer head or extension, said inner extension projecting into engagement with the goods in the magazine as long as there is a predetermined supply thereof 1n the megazine, said outer extension pro-jectingoutof the casing when said inner extension is in engagement with the goods in the-magazine,-

but adapted to be moved into the casing when the supply of goods-has fallen below.

said inner extension, whereby said outer exzine as long as there is a predetermined sup-:1

ply thereofin the magazine, said outer extension pro ectlng out of the magazine when said mner extension is in engagement w1th the goods in the'magazine, andaspring for actuating said pawl to move said outer exe.

tension into the casing when said inner extension is out of engagement with thegoods in the magazine, whereby-said outer exten- S1011 acts as an indlcatorthat may be felt fromthe outside-of the machine to ascertain.

the condition of the supply'ofgoods in the magazine.

In a vendingmachine, an outer casing provided with amagazi-ne for containingthc vendable goods, the front wall ofsaidicas ing and the front wall of said magazine being each provided with an opening,mechanism for delivering the goods from said magazine, there being a. narrow space or chamber between the front wall of saidcasmg and the front wall of said magazine, and apawl pivotedat one end'in said'space or chamber, the other end of said pawl being provided with an inner head or extension and an outer head or extension, said inner extension projecting through the opening insaid magazine into engagement with the. goods as long as there is a predetermined supply'thereof 1nthe magazine, said outer.

extension projecting out of the casing" through the opening in the front wall thereof when said inner extension is in engagement with the goods in the magazine, butv adapted to be moved into the casing'when the supply of goods has fallen below said inner extension,'whereby said outer extension acts as an indicator that may be felt from the outside of the machine to ascertain the condition of the supply of goods in the magazine.

l. In a vending machine, an outer casing provided with a magazine for containing the vendable goods, the front wall of said casing and the front wall of said magazine being each provided with an opening, mechanism for delivering the goods from said magazine, there being a narrow space or chamber between the front wall of said casing and the front wall of said magazine, a pawl pivoted at one end in said space or chamber, the other end of said pawl being provided with an inner head or extension and an outer head or extension, said inner extension projecting through the opening in said magazine into engagement with the goods as long as there is a predetermined supply thereof in the magazine, said outer extension projecting out of the casing through the opening in the front wall thereof when said inner extension is in engagement with the goods in the magazine, and. a spring for actuating said pawl to move said outer extensioninto the casing when said inner extension is out of engagement with the goods in the magazine, whereby said outer extension acts as an indicator that may be felt from the'outside of the machine to ascertain the-condi tion of the supply of goods in the magazine.

5. In a vending machine, an outer casing provided with a magazine for containing the vendable goods, mechanism for delivering the goods from said magazine, and a 7 member pivoted at one end within said casing, the other end of said member being provided with indicating means comprising i ALBERT 1). (moves; 

